MOVING INLAND

Wairarapa Times-Age, 28 July 1942, Page 3

MOVING INLAND

JAPANESE IN EASTERN ’ NEW GUINEA , ALONG TRACK LEADING ' TO PORT MORESBY. J LIGHT SKIRMISHING REPORTED. 1 (Special Australian Correspondent.) SYDNEY, July 27. ; Japanese troops who landed at Guna Missic/i last Wednesday have 1 penetrated nearly 40 miles inland along the track leading to Port ' Moresby. was revealed in to- ; day’s communique from General MacArthur’s headquarters. It states that our patrols have engaged the enemy in “light skirmishing” at Awala. The point at which fighting occurred is about 20 miles to the north of the coastal side of the Owen Stanley range. While preliminaries to a land action are indicated, our air units maintain unceasing attacks on Japanese forces in the Gona area. Aircraft, batteries, food and ammunition dumps were among Sunday’s targets for our bombers and it is believed that considerable damage was caused. One Japanese fighter was shot down in fierce dogfights over the sea and two of ours are missing. . Further land action in New Guinea is reported in today's communique, which says that Allied troops recently surprised and repulsed enemy patrols attempting to attack Mubo, 15 miles south of Salamaua. The enemy lost 60 men in the engagement. The air war which was so heavily intensified on Friday and Saturday, continued unabated on Sunday. Three enemy planes made a further attack on Darwin in the early night. Damage was negligible. Our bombers over the northern Solomons raided Kieta, Bougainville Island and the Buka passage, where enemy installations on Buka and Sohana Island were attacked. TOWNSVILLE RAID NOT IN ITSELF SERIOUS. BUT ADVANCE IN ENEMY'S AIR OFFENSIVE. (Bv Telegraph—Press Association— Copyright) SYDNEY, July 27. “The bombing of Townsville on Saturday night, though not serious in its results, was serious in that it advanced the enemy’s air offensive 1000 miles closer to Australia’s great centres of population and industry, says the Sydney “Sun.” Townsville is only 1025 miles from Sydney, and the ineffectual attack made by four enemy flying boats, which dropped their bombs harmlessly into the harbour, has entirely obscured any complacency caused by the long lull in the south-west Pacific fighting. The impression made in Sydney is as great as that caused by the earlier and much heavier raids on Darwin, Wyndham and Broome. “The raid on Townsville, following the Japanese landing at Gona Mission, suggests that the Japanese have plans for the subjection of the Port Moresby garrison as a preliminary to further southward encroachment, says the Sydney “Morning Herald” war correspondent at General MacArthur’s headquarters. The last occasion when enemy reconnaissance planes were over Townsville was on May 8, during the Coral Sea battle, and it was believed they came from an aircraft-carrier. The fourengined flying-boats making Saturday night’s raid are thought to have come from Japan’s strongest New Guinea base, Lac, more than 800 miles away. Townsville’s normal population of 30,000, which is swollen by the presence of troops, took the raid calmly. Adequate warning was given, and the town was blacked out long before the raiders appeared. Most of the people went to the shelters. Two of the raiders were plainly seen in searchlight beams. Darwin has now had 20 enemy raids, but the bombs on Townsville were the first on the east coast of Australia. “More significant than the few bombs they dropped is the fact that the raiding flying-boats were able to carry out a survey of over 800 miles of sea,” says the “Sun.” They were able to return to their bases with data and courses plotted for further attacks.” The immunity from air attack of Australia’s eastern coastline is now ended, and Japanese bombs are expected to . fall on settled areas even further , south. Townsville is only 675 miles , north of Brisbane.